Crazy Rich Asians
Kevin Kwan (Doubleday)
If this isn’t the funniest book so far this year, it’s up there; author Kevin Kwan’s sprawling send-up of international Chinese high society (most of the important action takes place in Singapore) offers vivid anecdotes about lavish displays of wealth (who needs a wedding band when you can have Cirque du Soleil perform at your nuptuals?), adroit insights on inter-generational relationships (is the favorite son really planning to marry an ABC – American-born Chinese?), and hilarious clashes between “old” and “new” Chinese money (can you truly measure a family’s status by how often they don’t appear in the newspaper?). “Crazy Rich Asians” is a riot, and Kwan, who grew up in Singapore, skewers his subjects deftly, stylishly, and completely – but with heart.